Tourist Attraction in Agra:Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, located in Agra, is a mausoleum built in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal. Although there are many doubts about the name of the architect who designed it, generally we tend to regard Ustad Ahmad Lahauri as the father of the work. The origin is still uncertain, but it is a general belief that Taj Mahal (whose literal meaning is Palazzo della Corona or Corona del Palazzo) is a shortened version of the name of Mumtaz. Often, nowadays, we refer to it by simply calling it the Taj. Arjumand Banu Begum, also known by the name of Mumtaz Mahal, who in Persian means the light of the palace, died in 1631 giving birth to the fourteenth son of the emperor. The emperor ordered the construction of the mausoleum to maintain one of the four promises he had made to his wife when she was still alive, initially he had his wife buried in the place of his death, but when he realized that transfer all the marble necessary to the construction would have been a prohibitive enterprise, he decided to move the works to Agra. The construction of the mausoleum, begun in 1632, lasted 22 years and ended in 1654. Among the 20,000 people who took part there were also many craftsmen from Europe and Central Asia. The architect responsible for carrying out the Taj Mahal is still unknown; most scholars attribute the authorship of the work to Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, but some speak of the Turkish Ustad Isa; Geronimo Veroneo is also mentioned as one of the possible architects, although there is no certain evidence on this subject. The Taj Mahal was built using materials from all parts of India and Asia. Over 1,000 elephants and buffaloes were used during the construction of raw materials transport. White marble was brought by Makrana, jasper from Punjab and jade and crystal from China. Turquoises were from Tibet and the lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, sapphires from Sri Lanka and carnelian from Arabia. In all 28 different types of precious and semi-precious stones, they were set in marble. The only local material used was the red sandstone that decorates the various structures of the complex. For construction work, instead of using bamboo to make the scaffolding, bricks were used. At the end of the works the huge scaffolding had to be dismantled, and for some this operation would take about five years. To solve this problem, the emperor decided that anyone could take bricks for themselves from scaffolding: according to tradition in one night the entire scaffolding was dismantled. The order in which the structures of the complex were built was as follows: plinth; mausoleum; minarets; mosque and jawab; entry portal. The construction work was financed thanks to the proceeds from the sale of saltpeter, a component for the manufacture of gunpowder. The architectural complex of the Taj Mahal covers roughly an area of ​​580 x 300 meters, and consists of five main elements: the darwaza (door), the bageecha (garden) which has the typical form of charbagh (garden divided into four parts) mughal, the masjid (mosque), mihman khana, and finally the mausoleum or the tomb of Shah Jahan. Further secondary structures are set against the walls that divide the complex from the outside: the two secondary portals and eight octagonal towers. It has always been considered one of the most remarkable beauties of Muslim architecture in India and is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites since December 9, 1983. Quote from: Rabindranath Tagore - A tear of marble standing on the cheek of time -